Over the Northern Tundra

Now that she wasn't anywhere close to Eientei, Reisen had stopped walking and started flying.

This place was quite odd indeed, what with some very odd creatures running about. She didn't bother fighting them; with just a flash of her eyes and they were wobbling around confused. They were certainly not back on Earth, that was for sure. Reisen had tried again and again to contact the other moon rabbits, but the esp network seemed to be empty, with no one at all for her to connect to. Sighing, she tried again, her ears swivelling slightly from side to side as she tried once again to find any moon rabbits to connect to.

No luck.

Sighing, she continued flying in the cold. The land seemed to be oddly shaped, noticable due to her flying high, looking as if it was some how contrained within a set border. All of a sudden, she stopped flying abruptly, eyes narrowing as she tried to make out those odd shapes that stood out from the ice and snow.

It seemed to be a base, with humans in it.

Gulping nervously, she landed on a relatively firm patch of snow and started walking towards the base, keeping a hand on the bag she carried with her.

The flight control tower was abuzz with activity, operators working around the clock to establish new flight paths for the steadily growing air force the base possessed. There were curses, jeers, and cries of triumph with each and every excursion out into the unknown tundra that surrounded the newly established GDI stronghold. Thankfully, as of yet there had been no major accidents or misshaps under their watch. One of the operators, sat at his post, dressed in the same uniform and sipping the same terrible coffee as every other asshole who was unlucky enough to be posted at the Scrin tower. Ever since the damnable thing had been built it was one disaster after another, and now here he was, cold, tired, and having to for the first time in years actually have to update anything in the GDI flight control. But still it could be worse, he could be back home dealing with Nod remnants or hell, maybe the Scrin had come back.

"GDI flight control, this is Orca flight group two, we have an unidentified craft on radar."

The operator scrambled for his headset as the message came through, downing the last of his coffee before responding. "Copy that Orca two, what is the craft's heading?" He waited on the edge of his seat for a response, wishing he had kept his mouth shut earlier.

"Target is headed your way, control. Whatever it is, it's small, and losing altitude, might be some sort of jump or flight suit."

"Understood, keep your eyes on it Orca two, sending a ground team to investigate."

Engines roared, and tires screeched against the frozen ground as a pair of APC's raced out across the tundra from the large GDI base. An old Guardian APC filled with riflemen, and a newer Armadillo packed with heavily armed and armored Zone troopers. It didn't take them long to actually reach their target, the armored transports grinding to a halt as their contents hustled out. Rifles and railguns at the ready, the two squads stood ready, and well disciplined before the small rabbit.

"State your name and business." One of the riflemen barked, voice gruff and forceful. The others whispered and chuckled amongst themselves, rather amused by the little thing standing in front of them.

They discovered her sooner than Reisen liked, but at least they weren't shooting at her.

"I'm.. I am Reisen Udongein Inaba, from Eientei." She had confidence she could at least escape this many people if they weren't being too friendly, but still she felt rather nervous around these guns and these sort of people again. There was a reason why she deserted during the Moon War after all. "I'm just here to see if.. see if..."

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she started over. "I'm here as a representative to establish contact with non hostile entities, and if possible, to establish trade for our medicine."

Feeling slightly relieved she had not flubbed that as well, Reisen stood where she was, waiting for their reaction. There was no doubt these people, now that she was actually looking closer at them, would be relatively easy to handle, but Eirin's punishment if she failed this kept that option as one made only in desperation.

More laughter came from the soldiers as the little thing did her best to speak with a modicum of composure. Though this was quickly silenced by a shout from the sergeant. The man turned back to look at the rabbit, his features hidden behind his helmet, same as all his fellows. "Well Miss Inaba, I'm Sergeant Grant of the Global Defense Initiative. If you'd like to negotiate, we can arrange a meeting with our commanding officer, but before that I'm afraid you'll have to come with us. We'll have to process you and make sure you aren't a threat to the safety of any GDI personnel." The sergeant's tone was rather blunt, a trait often found in a non-commissioned officer.

Never once did his men take their eyes off her, their rifles trained on the girl as their officer spoke, not till he barked another order and gestured back towards the APCs. The sergeant himself approached Reisen, offering his hand in greeting. The rest began to pile back into their vehicles, a single zone trooper remaining to watch the exchange between Grant and the stranger.

"I can assure you that you will be treated with respect befitting a... representative such as yourself."

"Yes, I understand!"

There was a look of open relief on her face as she said that. The men had laughed at her, which was kinda mean, but at least Eirin won't punish her if anything goes wrong. Hopefully. She accepted the sergeant's hand and shook it.

Piling back into the APC with the rabbit, the drive back into the base was a short and quiet one. The soldiers didn't even really talk among themselves, just looked at the girl, eyes hidden behind the green visors of their helmets. They were greeted at the gates, and after some time let through, the news of their guest reaching all the way to Cunningham before they were permitted to enter. Reisen was escorted and processed through security, her person and belonging checked by all manner of scans and pat downs. An uncomfortable experience surely, but thankfully not an overly invasive one.

Still escorted by the sergeant, she was lead through the sprawling industrial works and fortifications of the large base. All manner of gun emplacements and defensive structures surrounding them. It was a fortress, one which GDI believed to be impregnable by land or air. Eventually the small rabbit was lead into a command post, filled with dozens of soldiers and non-combat personnel. Knocking on a door, a stern voice beckoned the pair to enter. Inside the room was an office, with chairs, a desk, and all manner of personal effects scattered along its walls and tables. Two men were waiting inside, one standing at attention and another seated. The man at the desk, the older of the two, motioned for Reisen to take a seat.

"That will be all, sergeant." Cunningham looked to Grant, who quickly saluted and left the room. The aging soldier then turned to the strange girl in front of him, and the bag she was holding. "My name is General Elijah Cunningham, this is Captain Reed. Sergeant Grant tells me that you and your people wish to engage in trade, medicine to be precise. Is that correct?" He would not let the... strange nature of his guest to break the formality of the situation. Though in truth he was rather confused by the rabbit-girl, or whatever the hell she really was.

"Yes, that is right." General? Sir? What should she call him? In any case, she kept her smile on, though it was mostly from the euphoria of having contacted someone BOTH non hostile and intelligent enough to understand her. "Medicine like painkiller, tranquilizers, and antibiotics, as well as uh..."

As well as otherworldly magical shady drugs that might or might not work as they were advertised? No that wouldn't sell at all. Even Reisen, who was familiar with them, didn't trust them completely at all.

"Other more specialized ones." She completed.

Cunningham raised his brow at the rabbit, the same dour expression on his face as she spoke. "We have medics and surgeons, and with our research teams and this Node, the production of medicines as common as those is simple enough. But perhaps these specialized medicines you've mentioned could be something worthwhile. What sort of 'specialized' are we talking about exactly? Because I've no interest in narcotics if that's what you're implying."

His voice was calm, but stern, a force and discipline backing each and every word the man spoke. Reed simply sood there, silent, the captain's eyes never once straying from Reisen as she sat across from his commanding officer.

Reisen's ears drooped a little at that. Of course, it was to be expected for those this advanced, and they were aiming towards those who didn't have much resources to begin with; those easier to bargain with so to speak. But she still can't help but feel disappointed.

"These are hard to explain." Indeed Reisen had a hard idea trying to explain what the medicine was only what it did. Fishing in her bag, she took out the sample vials, fishing out a very deep green vial, a very suspect looking blue flask and a one that was a lighter green in a jar. "The one in this," — she held up the green vial — "heals any wounds instantly, regardless of how grievous it is, though, you cannot use it again on the same person before a day has passed."

Sensing it might be a bit suspect if she just gave them her word for it, Reisen spoke again "Perhaps a demonstration is in order? Are there any badly injured men here?"

Cunningham simply looked at the girl, his expression only growing grimmer as she spoke about her supposed miracle cure. "Miss, forgive me but it seems to me that you are reaching. You will of course understand me if I don't believe that you have there in your hand some mystical Panacea. I don't doubt it might truly be an effective medicine but I'm skeptical that it could heal any wound." The general motioned to Reed before speaking again.

"Captain Reed will escort you to the medical ward, we have not suffered any combat injuries or fatalities in the last month, but there are some who have injured themselves on the job. Construction is always a high risk occupation after all. The good captain will oversee you administer this medicine to one of the men, and report to me what he sees. If I like what I hear, we can discuss the possibility of trade, and perhaps more, then and only then."

The general looked down to the papers at his desk, flipping and signing through page after page of the documents as Reed stepped forward to Reisen. "When you're ready, Miss."

"Ah, yes, I'm ready." She replied, waiting for him to escort her there.

Her tail was twitching slightly now, both with anticipation and the horrible sinking feeling the medicine might suddenly not work all of a sudden, making her look like a liar and a charlatan. Please let it be the right vial.

The medical ward was rather empty, perhaps half a dozen men holed up in beds, suffering from broken bones and abrasions. Most of them were engineering personnel, their injuries from carelessness rather than combat. Reed stood silently next to Reisen, his dark eyes watching patiently to see what it was her cure-all could actually do.

"Again, whenever you're ready, Miss."

Looking for the one with the worst injuries, and therefore the one most likely to impress them should they heal, she picked the one with two broken legs. How that happened was beyond her, but he was going to be her lucky break. Reisen simply picked out the deep green vial, uncapped it, and carefully poured just one drop into his mouth. It did not have any sort of flashy effect, a glow or any sort of fancy thing to show that it worked, just flesh and bone healing quickly and painlessly, as well as a strange sense of vitality for the one that had ingested it.

"There. Now if he gets injured again, do not give him any more of this until a day has passed since he last took it."

The engineer was somewhat hesitant at first, a rather confused look on his face as he was approached by the rabbit, but a quick nod from Reed set him at ease. Well, mostly. After imbibing the strange concoction, he waited in the bed for something, anything really. But instead of some rush of energy or any sort of dramatic display, the pain merely began to fade away. He moved his arm, tearing it away from its sling without any hint of pain or uncomfort. A smile spread across his face, and he looked to Reisen as he sat up straight. "Well God damn, thanks lovely, I feel like I could haul a Mammoth." The man stretched as he stood from the bed, groaning as he worked the aches out of legs that had been broken just a moment ago.

"Alright, that's enough. Report back to your superior." Reed looked to the engineer, a stern look on his face as he spoke. The man merely shrugged, and gave the small rabbit a pat on the head before leaving.

"I must say that was rather impressive, Miss. I'm sure the General will be pleased to hear of the results." With that, he turned towards the exit, motioning the girl to follow him as he walked back towards the command center.

The pat to the head was surprising, but she didn't mind. It was Eirin's concoction after all, so she shouldn't have doubted, but still she had the terrible fear that it would turn them into a rabbit or something else. Looking rather pleased, she followed him towards the command center again, feeling the next two concoctions she still had in the sample bag. These two, at least, did not need any special preparations, so she could demonstrate them right there, if they need a demonstration of those as well, that was.

With the report from Reed, Cunningham thought on the prospect for a few minutes. True the medicine was amazing, but often a situation like this tends to be too good to be true. He let out a soft sigh before looking back to Reisen, his aged face tired. "The Captain tells me it truly is an amazing medicine, that the man you gave it too healed from his injuries within moments. That's certainly something worth having in our posession. But tell me, what is it exactly that you and your people would want in return for this medicine?"

Reisen clapped her hands together, "Ah, for now, information and support would be great. There are only a small group of us able to protect ourself in Eientei," — actually just four — ," and any information we can get on this place would be helpful as well.

Cunningham nodded, motioning once again to Captain Reed as he spoke. "If that is the case, then Captain Reed and an escort will accompany you back to your people, there the specifics can be negotiated, and a formal treaty can be signed. I would go myself but I am needed here to oversee the expansion of this outpost, and the positioning of others in the surrounding areas. The captain is more than capable though, you can trust him."

"I.. Uh.. Thank you!" Bowing deeply towards the general, she straightened up again. "Then, I'll leave the vial here as a sample, should you want to see it in effect yourself."

Negotiations and such weren't her forte; she was just a normal grunt before after all, and that didn't change much once she worked under Eirin. Happy at the result of the meeting, she turned towards Captain Reed. "Nice to meet you, Captain Reed. Shall we set out immediately? It is quite a distance away from here."

As if to punctuate that, she started floating out the door, looking expectantly at the Captain, obviously thinking him to fly out after her.

The two officers looked at each other, then the rabbit, Reed doing his best not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Regaining his composure, the captain cleared his throat. "Miss Inaba, I'm afraid that neither my men or I can fly, at least not as you can. With the General's approval I will requisition the construction of a Kodiak, or if you prefer a stealthier return, we could simply take a few APCs by ground. Either way it will take some time to organize this excursion, so please do be patient."

Reed called for a soldier outside the office, who quickly came and took a datapad from the captain, before dismissing himself with a salute. "That said, before we leave I was hoping to ask you about your people, and whoever it is you consider your leader."

"Eh? Ah, alright." Feeling deflated she landed back on the ground. Kodiak? APCs? Those she had never heard of, but images of a large monster floated about in her mind at the sound of those two words. Perhaps it was one of those vehicles she saw earlier?

Reisen pondered the question Reed asked of her. Her people? That meant everyone in Eientei for now. And their leader were obviously Princess Kaguya, though Eirin tended to do most of the work. "We're mostly made up of earth rabbits, many of which had never went out of our bamboo grove before... before ending up here. Our leader, well, she's just our princess, Princess Kaguya."

She scratched her head, searching for something else to say. "I guess that's all I can think of. Was there something you wanted to know about them?"

The captain stared at her, rather clueless to almost everything she had said given there was so little context. "Well firstly, what exactly is an Earth Rabbit, and why make the distinction? I take it you're one of them? Secondly, what can you tell me of your princess? What sort of leader she is, how long she's been with you, things of that nature."

He took a seat as they talked, waiting for confirmation that his men and their transport would be ready to leave at his command. "Also, one more question, your name, your princess' name. They're Japanese aren't they? If so is that the main language you speak?"

Taking up a seat as well, Reisen thought about his questions, before answering them. "There are moon rabbits, and earth rabbits where I came from. I.." for a moment, there was a distant look on her face. "I'm an earth rabbit now. As for Princess Kaguya... she's a strong leader, I would say, but very reclusive. I have no idea how long she was in Eientei."

Old memories came back to her once again, the war on the moon, the day she deserted, and meeting up with the Princess and Eirin. Shaking off past phantoms, she turned back to Reed, smiling again. "Ah yes, they're Japanese. English is fine too."

Nodding, Reed wrote down what he heard, taking particular interest in this Princess of theirs, and whatever the hell Eientei was. He'd have to get one of the translators to work out what the hell it actually meant. "I see, thank you, Miss Inaba. I'm sure I can learn more once we're actually there with the rest of your kind. I'm hopeful that this will be quite the beneficial alliance between our people once everything is worked out and signed." A smile curled across the captain's face as he spoke, always the optimist.

Minutes later the soldier returned with the datapad, which Reed scanned over, mumbling softly to himself as he read. Satisfied, he placed the pad on the General's desk, and offered him a salute before turning to Reisen. "Everything is in order, Miss Inaba. Several APCs have been prepared, and my men are ready to embark. Follow me and you can lead the way there once we take off." He turned towards the door without another word, leading the rabbit-girl down through the command post and towards the barracks and war factories. Massed collumns of armored vehicles and tanks lied dormant, ready to roar with life and fire upon the battlefield. Several squads of riflemen, zone troopers, and a handful of combat engineers stood ready and at attention as their captain approached. Orders were shouted, and salutes were given, before they all piled into their respective guardians and armadillos. Reed turned to Reisen and motioned her towards one of the guardian APCs, a smile on his face.

"There's a seat waiting for you in there, Miss Inaba. Sergeant Grant and his squad have been assigned to your security, I will be with the Zone Troopers but we will have radio contact. Once you're settled in, give the driver the directions he'll need." His speech was plain and simple, and without another word the captain made his way to his own transport, leaving the small rabbit to herself.

"Radio... I understand!" Looking a bit apprehensive and unsure of these vehicles, she got into them hesitantly. Regaining her composure, she started giving the driver instructions as they set out.

As a new day dawns over the Array as the infamous imperial fleet known as Death Squadron looms ominously over the "planet". The sleek arrowhead design of the massive Super Star Destroyer known as the Executor, the first of its kind, floats motionlessly while being escorted by four regular Star Destroyers with two on each side of the main ship. While it's still an imposing sight for all to see, it's actually a rather small fleet number wise. Sure you have the giant SSD that's around 8x the size of a regular Imperial II Class, but that's only six ships, plus the one above the complex. Yet who would dare try and combat the massive dreadnought? Perhaps a fool or a suicidal maniac... or someone stupid.

Aboard the Executor, Emperor Palpatine glances over at the new world as he stands coldly in the middle of the ship's bridge alongside two of his personal scarlet Imperial Guards. He's been standing there for the past hour and his very presence sends shivers down the crew's spines. He is an imposing and some dare say terrifying looking figure to those who put their eyes on him. Many dare not to look at him for too long as the crew onboard the bridge continue to busily monitor the ship's status. They knew better then to annoy their glorious Emperor.

The entrance opens suddenly as cold ominous breathing boomed through the workplace. The arrival of Lord Vader was not a second short on time as he walks towards his master in an orderly fashion. His presence didn't seem to provide any calming to the rest of the crew as they continued to feverishly monitor their screens after a brief glance at the Dark Lord. Why couldn't they talk in some dark room in secrecy? After all, that's normally what they would do. Rarely did the crew see Vader alongside his master outside his throne room on Courscant, let alone conversing with one another. Vader continues walking towards his master as his breathing echoed through the room before simply stopping in place. With this Palpatine looks at the rest who were in the room with his venomous yellow eyes.

"Clear the bridge." he announces coldly as he signals his guards to leave.

All the personnel from the holographic map room bowed in complete compliance as they slowly walked out the door to leave the two sith lords do their business. Once the doors closed shut, they were finally alone. Vader takes a kneel as he lowers his head down by his master's feet.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" he asks as he raises his head up to Sidious'.

The Emperor simply smiles.

"Rise, my friend." the old sith replies with a friendly tone as his apprentice rises, "Today marks an important day in the history of the Empire.."

Vader seemed confused at first with this statement.

"What do you mean? asks the masked sith.

"Hmmmm..." sighs Palpatine as he rubs his chin, "You've seen to have forgotten the concept of time, Lord Vader... it's quite disappointing."

The old sith then looks at Vader directly in his eyes.

"Today marks the first month since we have arrived here." he continues as he begins to stroll back and forth, "You do remember how we got to this point, yes?"

There was a slight pause before the masked sith answered.

"I do, master."

"Of course you do..." Palpatine responds with a slight smirk as he turns his back towards him to reflect regardless, "One month ago an unknown anomaly jeopardized this fleet's trajectory to Fondor... and we were suddenly transported in unknown space. For one week did we try to contact Imperial command yet failed... perhaps we would've perished on this very vessel if it weren't for the discovery of this strange... planet. But of course, we mustn't forget the one thing that saved this fleet from it's total destruction..."

"The Node." Vader interrupts briefly to fill in the gaps.

Palpatine looks back at Vader again with another smirk.

"Correct... Without it, we would be stranded here and either have to rebuild our empire here from scratch or we would perish after the rest of the crew succumb to madness. Thanks to it, we now have a portal back to our own galaxy, to Coruscant no doubt.... and we have access to our own private materials, limited as it may be according to the intensity of the storms surrounding the nodes, but an access point none the less. And yet we won't let this planet go to waste, my friend."

He then presses a button on the holographic table, which shows a map of nearly the entire Array, with its biomes and all.

"This planet still has a valuable amount of resources that we must reap." Palpatine continues, "While scouts have recently found out evidence of possible factions located here, so far most of the ones we've encounter seem rather primitive compared to our technological might. We must wipe them out in order to secure this planet..."

"Every last one of them..."

Vader looks at the map as he studies the terrain documented. Indeed, with the two remaining here, they can crush any who oppose them. This world will prove to be a valuable and secret asset for them to utilize.

"Then I will slaughter them all, master." Vader responds with a bow.

Palpatine's lips began to crease as he reveals an ugly grin of anticipation. He issues a slow cackle as he faces his apprentice.

"I have no doubt in your capabilities..." he responds as he eyes Vader carefully, "But simply using mere force will grant you limited room to expand. You must negotiate with these factions whenever possible. Make them your allies, collect their trust, use them to achieve our goals, and once they have served our purpose... THEN you may break them."

"I understand..." Vader responds obediently.

Palpatine would simply sigh as he begins walking to the door, "Good... But as much as I desire I stay and oversee our Empire expand into this new territory, I must attend back to our home galaxy and finish off the pesky rebellion. For now, I'll leave the entire fleet under your control... I trust you will treat your assets well."

Despite some of his doubt in leading the army in such an unknown territory, Vader simply acknowledges as he bows once more.

"As you wish..." is all that he says.

But Palpatine can sense his apprentice's hesitation and doubt. His face turns slightly ugly as he stops mid-way towards the door and glares at Vader intensely.

"Do you doubt your leadership abilities... Lord Vader?" he unfeelingly asks him.

Vader was quick to remove these thoughts as he stands up slowly.

"No master..." he replies swiftly, "I will oversee the operation here without fail."

"I hope so..." his master replies as he continues walking, "I will return here within a week to check on your progress. Unfortunately, I am unable to telepathically communicate with you while on the other side of the node... so all actions are under your judgement..."

"Do not fail me."

And with that, Palpatine exits the bridge as his scarlet guards begin escorting his shuttle to the Node below. Darth Vader stands as he enters the observing portion of the bridge and looks out at the square planet below him. He will not fail his master in keeping order on this planet.

Northern Border of Warm Steppes
D+31 After Loss of the 'Griffin'

How long has she spent traversing this desolate steppe, Nova wondered to herself as she struggled through the stinging sandstorm. Each step forward was a struggle, between the semi-hard terain beneath her soles, the equipment she had stowed and was now lugging on her back, and the grit which stung at her semi-covered face (concealed behind an improvised shemagh and cloak).

Well over a day searching for her crashed ship and, once more, nothing. No distres beacon, no torn armour plate, no bodies. o sign of life by any means she could detect.

You can therefore imagine her utter shock, then, when she heard a squall of comms trafic on her comms bead. She stopped and knelt, adjusting her visor's ear-pieces and activated the internally-built mike.

"This is Lieutenant Rave Mallard of the Spectre Ops with Raynor's Raiders.

If there are any Dominion personnel hearing this, we are in the southern desert on a mountain. In one hour, I will be heading to the northern border where the desert meets with mesas and badlands, waiting six hours for you to arrive. I will be doing this for the next two days, this message looping every hour on the hour for the time I am waiting. Please let me know you hear me on one of these channels.

I repeat, this is Lieutenant Rave Mallard of the Spectre Ops with Raynor's Raiders. It's time to come home."

Nova frowned, biting her lower lip. On the one hand, she was relieved that - friend or foe - there was at least someone familiar enough that was as equally stuck as she was, and that they were actively looking for her. On the other hand, she had been practically a waned woman for the past quarter of the year - who knows whether this was all a set-up and she'll be back in an interrogation chair, if not shot, for her crime?

Everything within her was crying out to block this transmission, or to track it down and destroy it; how was this not a trap? Pragmatism and her own survival, however, ultimately won out. Swallowing, she lowered her face covering and keyed her earpiece once more, opening a line of communications to the Raider base.

"This is .... This is Operative X41822N to Raider transmitter." she stammered over the howling wind. "Requesting extraction."

After setting the loop requirements, Rave had pulled up a chair and sat down, waiting. And as a sniper, one would think that his patience levels would be legendary, but that was not the case, as after around twenty minutes, he was already restless. A lot of it had to do with the current situation, with their only knowledge of the lay of the land being what they can see and feel safe scouting. The light scouts would hopefully alleviate some of that, since their armor allowed them to move faster in a shorter amount of time than what even the Spectre could do, but not knowing where they stood in regards to their enemies or potential enemies made him unnecessarily nervous.

After thirty minutes, he radioed one of the starports to get a medivac prepped for departure to the northern border after confirming that Hellion and Predator patrols were beginning to reach out that far. In fact, there was already an outpost being built there with some of Stetmann's new camo netting, which would allow the scouts and marines posted there to remain out of sight unless whatever they spotted was practically on top of them. The news was reassuring to the Spectre, because it meant that anyone who might arrive after the psion left that day would have someplace to stay until he arrived for more picks ups the following day.

As the clock hit the forty-five minute mark, at which point Rave was too restless to stay any longer, an answering call came in, from perhaps the last person the Spectre had ever expected to hear it from. "This is .... This is Operative X41822N to Raider transmitter," came the stammering reply "Requesting extraction." He turned to get coordinates to the calls position, which were promptly handed to him by the gal in charge of Coms for the day. Reading them over, he then answers the wayward Ghost.

"Copy that, Miss Terra. Remain where you are and we'll be there to pick you up in twenty mikes. Over and out." Rushing out of the command center, he gathers up a small team of three marines, a Ghost and Spectre, and a couple of marauders, ordering them to the medivac. He then set out to acquire one of their few combat medics. Their training was somewhat different, as they were not only given their standard medical training, they were given training in sidearms, revolvers, and how to use their shields as makeshift bludgeoning weapons effectively. It took another five minutes of arguing with the Lieutenant in charge of the combat medics before he had permission to take one.

Once he had the rescue party gathered, the medivac was in the air and en route to Terra Nova's location. "We're in route, Terra. Pop flares in two mikes so we know where to land."

|+|THE CULT OF SKARO|+|

Dalek Sec looked across the horizon, hovering within the Chameleon field. “Humanity, its stench survives through every version of reality, yet the Daleks and Timelords always burn.”

Sec’s mind remembered Skaro, he thought and pondered its destruction. “Skaro, a great symbol of Dalek power, its cities stood mighty and supreme, and yet it burned.” He looked towards the north, facing the human settlement, then west, then south, then east, all around him was humanity’s resilience, standing defiantly in the face of death.

“Earth, the retched, filthy, impure, and weak civilization of humans arose from Earth. In every version of reality, Earth and humanity stood time and time again. Why does Skaro and its children fall, and yet time spares these weak, putrid beings!?” The camera at the end of his eyestalk glowed blue, changing its magnification and focus to see farther. Dalek Sec contemplated deeply about the survival of the Dalek Empire as a whole, while looking to humans for an answer.

Dalek Caan rose, the sound of their anti-gravity projectors whirring in the cold air. “Progress on our cloning facility, seventy-six percent, it will be complete within one light-cycle!”

“Dalek Caan, request information.” Sec demanded, Caan turned his eyestalk towards Dalek Sec, his black Metalert casing shining in the light, finally Caan answered, “I obey!”

Sec immediately questioned him, “Are the Daleks superior to all?” without hesitation Caan replied, “Affirmative, Daleks are supreme!”

Sec looked again to the wasteland around him, the frozen glaciers all around and beyond the horizon. “If we are supreme Dalek Caan, why are we few, why are there no other Daleks on scan, why are we the last of our kind?”

Dalek Thay and Jast looked above them, Dalek Thay thought it an insult, Dalek Jast hadn’t an answer just more questions. Caan looked around him, and finally he understood.

“Observe! Across time and space, we were sent here, across time and space, we survived, but why are there not more?” The Daleks remained silent, slowly realizing what Sec saw, “If the Daleks survived the Time War, why were they not brought here?”

Thay finally spoke, “We are the last?” Sec, descended, and turned his eyestalk towards Thay, “We are the last of the children of Skaro! We, The Cult of Skaro, and the many trapped in the Genesis Ark!”

Jast felt he needed to speak, “Impossible! Across all of space and time? Across all realities?”

Caan looked to Sec, “Why did we survive?” Sec looked to Caan, “Because we are different, we were created to think, we were created to imagine, we think as our enemies do. We survive because we must.” His reply was to the point, as with all Dalek communication.

Thay spoke again, “But, we were created by the Emperor! We are the exception to the Dalek order! Daleks must remain pure, without emotion, without thought!” Silence fell, the mechanical, computerized voice of the Daleks echoed in their base, the spherical void ship hovering over them, and the towering megastructures looming over them.

Sec, made his choice, a choice to change all Dalek kind, he is the operational leader, without an emperor, he is designated Supreme Dalek. “Continue working on the facility, finish the work, scan for viable slaves!”

“Report progress on full armament restoration!” Sec shouted, Dalek Caan was quick to answer, “Eighty light-cycles to full armory restoration!”

“The Genesis Ark is primed!” Dalek Thay reported, “The Genesis Ark will be opened, and a new Dalek Empire will rise from the ashes of the Time War! It will survive through the Cult of Skaro, no longer bound by the suppression of thought!”

Thay, confused by Sec’s statement exclaimed, “Explain your logic!” Sec obliged Thay’s request, “We survived because we were free to think, and imagine, we foresaw the end and escaped! The Dalek Empire must be as flexible!”

Thay saw no flaw in his logic, neither did Caan, nor Jast, the dawn of a new Dalek age is coming, and the drums of war sound ever closer. Dalek Sec and the Cult of Skaro will lead the Daleks out of the Dark, the Dalek Empire will herald a new age of purity, a new meaning to Dalek superiority and supremacy. The cleverest Dalek of them all will lead them there.

---

Damnable posh blighter, Col. Blackheart cursed mentally. In light of his team's discovery, Maximillian had allowed him to leave on a scouting mission, sending Eli to fill in the gap as head of security at the research station, but he had also sent Lord Kane along. The conspirator was lethal, sure enough; Blackheart could respect that, but the man was too soft for his tastes. Max only sent him when he wanted eyes on a problem, and Blackheart was sure that, in this case, Kane had been sent to keep him in line. "As if I'm fool enough to spring an ambush before the quarry is caught," he thought with a scowl on his face. It was this exact train of thought that Max had attempted to preempt by sending the grand conspirator.
Besides Kane and the colonel, Maximillian had sent four Mercenaries, a pair of Diplomats, and about a dozen Guards. This was very much a scouting mission, one where being detected meant failure, but he had opted to send the socially-adept Diplomats in the event that discovery resulted in talks instead of gunfire, not that he really anticipated that. The forces of justice had never bothered talking, not that he would have listened, and Max could see no reason anyone here would be different.
The helicopter touched down in a clearing that sat along a river to the northwest of the target settlement. They had taken the long way around, planning on causing confusion as to what direction the Evil Lair resided in. Hopefully, the nearby mountains had hidden the helicopter from sight as it touched down. Blackheart was the first to disembark, taking in a deep breath of the woodland air, "Ahh, the hunt begins! he announced cheerfully. Sure, he had a minder, but at least he wasn't stuck reading reports anymore.
The minions filed out, Mercenaries scanning the area for threats as the Guards unloaded the supplies necessary for an extended mission. Lord Kane exited second-to-last, the Diplomats following behind him. Their designer suits were unsuited for the wilderness, and one wiped his already-sweating brow as he stepped off the ramp.
Lord Kane quietly looked over the assembled team, evaluating their respective capacities to threaten the mission. "Of those assembled," he concluded, "The Colonel and his host of Mercenaries are the worst. The Guards, at least, are reliable in their incompetence." In Kane's experience, incompetent minions could be expected to fail, and one could even factor that failure into the plan. Blackheart, though, was a loose cannon, and the Mercenaries lacked any real sense of subtlety, as their heavy machine guns testified. The Diplomats were a burden, but accounting for contingencies was just good sense.
The helicopter took flight as the last of the cargo was unloaded, heading off to the west with the plan of turning back to the southeast once it was out of sight. Extraction would be no simple matter now, but such a hard-to-replace transport wasn't something to risk for the sake of a quick exit. The team began the slow march towards the settlement.
The party followed the river for a few hours and eventually came across a crude marker, likely denoting the borders of their target. Seeing little reason to compromise their anonymity so early, they retreated behind the treeline across the river from the marker to establish a camp and plan their next moves. The Guards set up tents while the Mercenaries laid down sandbags and set up their machine guns. Two were placed aiming straight across the river, and the other two took up opposing positions on the flanks. Only the rear remained unmanned, but Blackheart and Pendragon saw to that as they laid a densely-packed field of traps. The outermost ones were simple bear traps, but as one neared the camp, they would start encountering landmines. The thought of the bumbling fools getting blown to bits as they approached what they thought was a weak point made the hunter chuckle as he carefully covered up the last mine.
Tomorrow, they would begin in earnest.

@Bluetommy

Only a day had passed and yet, thanks to the work of its tireless drones, the site of the CPU’s forces’ emergence had transformed from simple fort to sprawling complex. Vast walls bristling with defenses and watchtowers now surrounded a not insubstantial area. Inside dedicated manufacturing buildings had begun to pump out dummies, weapons, craft and some of the dummies relatively limited composition of ground vehicles. Hover tanks, armored cars and falcon attack craft now sat in hangers, ready to power up and rush to defend the complex. It also had a large central comms array, something that had been jury rigged from it’s own unit’s communication hardwear, forming a large frankensteinian tower of hundreds of simpler coms units melded together to increase their transmission and reception capabilities.

At the center of it all the original base the original bunkers had been massively extended, the brains now buried deeper within the earth, each separated from the surface by a different long, twisting, boobytraped hallway. In total there were 12 Dummy brains in the base, 6 in the center and 6 more spread out around the more external reaches of the compound to avoid an eggs in basket situation.

With relatively harmless wildlife providing the only resistance it had encountered so far in the local region, the watch towers having spotted no intruders and its manufacturing capabilities now outstretching the amount of resources the node could output, it was high time it engaged in some commerce and expansion .

It now had a larger selection of its prebuilt craft brought up from below ground and it had built a number of short range transmitters that it had installed on some of them to help it establish communications with other reasonable groups. Other than the mercenaries there had been several other encrypted transmissions over the past day that and while they had not been successfully decoded, they did give away the presence of their signalers due to their different encryption methods. For the purpose of contacting them it would be sending out some scouting groups so as to avoid revealing its base location with directed radio transmissions.

Each exploration group included 8 rocket pods carrying: 2 brains(one to stay with the landed craft and one to go lead the interaction group), 1 Diplomacy Dummy augmented with communications equipment for text and verbal interaction, 1 dreadnought to protect the craft and 25 dummy escorts with various weapons and tools that would accompany the Diplomacy Dummy and build simple fortifications to protect the landing site. Escorting these would be two Falcons equipped with twin heavy nailer cannons. Each groups where a relatively low investment in resources, intended to primarily protect the two valuable brain unit’s retreats in case of hostility rather than for fighting a pitched battle.

As the first decad of craft launching themselves skyward in blasts of rocket fuel and soared towards the nearby nodes around which it had detected activity, the CPU turned its attention back to the task those missions where preparing the way for. Around the outskirts of the compound a far larger, slower moving expedition was taking shape. Riding in gun toting dropships and harrier twin prop transports was a veritable army of Dummies, weighed down with a multitude of weapons and tools. Escorting this convoy would be falcons, gunships and hover tanks. The entire ensemble had one goal in mind, the capture of the center of the array. There were two reasons for this:

First was based primarily on the vague notion that the center of things, the heart of a place, was generally important. Also, the oddly symmetrical ocean with its perfectly central island where an incredibly artificial construction in an already rather artificial environment, which probably meant it was built that way on purpose. Those two suspicions combined meant that the CPU though the place bared invitation as they might indicate something interesting was there.

Secondly, it’s centralised location held a lot of value for a business AI like itself as a communications and distribution point for Array wide commerce. Also, in the event that conflict erupted across the entire Array, it would be a place of strategic importance which it could either sell to the highest bidder or simply use as a fortress island from which to wait out the war.

For this expedition to go smoothly it needed to know that it would be able to travel through the intervening air space unmolested. This was the primary concession it wanted out of those it discovered on the way to the island, if any were indeed to be found.

As the last of the scout groups launched skywards without issue the CPU took a few moments to watch them go. The bright dots of flame rapidly vanished into the distance as the CPU pondered what it would find.

Cautious optimism: Profit hopefully

"We're in route, Terra. Pop flares in two mikes so we know where to land."

"Negative! Negative!" the reply crackled back to Rave.

Back at her position, Nova tried to make herself heard as she took a knee, struggling to keep herself upright within the swirling clouds of dust as she cradled her rifle in her gauntlets. "I'm caught in the middle of a storm system and can't ID my position with flares! Not as if I even have any on hand right now."

A breath passed through gritted teeth as she lowered her visor. With no orbital satellites or data uplinks that it could consult, her visor was practically useless as a map reference tool, but it could still allow her to see through the grit. She radioed, "My visor's positioning system is down as well! I'll try and indicate my location once you're in range, but you're probably going to have to fly by instruments to get here!"

A bitter laugh passed through before she signed off with: "No chance of me going anywhere, anyway. Terra out."

Setting her equipment pack down and bundling her cloak around her (while keeping her rifle on hand), Nova sat herself down in place, trying to keep the sand out as she began what would likely be a long wait for her exfiltration ...

Rave's fist slams into the wall in anger and he takes a moment to calm himself before replying. "Copy that, Nova. Hang tight, we'll find you." Turning off his transmitter but leaving the receiver on, the Spectre growls in annoyance. What kind of idiot didn't pack flares into the emergency survival kit of whatever she had been in when she ended up here? That was going to require some rectifying if he ever got ahold of the bastard, but for now, time was of the essence. Facing the pilot, he pointed towards the storm. "Triangulate her position from the last communication and head for that location. If the storm is as bad on the ground as it looks from the sky, she shouldn't be exposed to it for too long."

"Understood, sir. Triangulating her location now. I'll let you know when we're getting close." Nodding, Rave returned to the troop compartment and took his seat at the front, resting his chin on his fist. At this point, they'd really gambled their base location, and after getting airborne, the psion had radioed back to the command center to shut down the loop to avoid having their base located before the base was ready to defend. Not to mention Matt would have picked up the signal eventually and given him and Jim an earful, even though Raynor was the commanding officer. Turning to the combat medic, who was cleaning her .45 caliber revolver and inspecting it, he addressed her.

"Sergeant, you've seen the storm outside, correct?" The medic looked up as she finished reattaching the cylinder and began replacing the bullets, a nod coming from her after a moment.

"Aye, sir. Since most Ghosts run with combat visors instead of full helmets, or at least the female ones I've met," the Ghost in across from her, a red-head, gave her a glare the medic ignored, "I reckon Miss November isn't doing too well. Parched throat, skin being shredded by the tiny grains of sand and dirt. She'll likely survive, but be severely dehydrated and fatigued." Nodding a thank you to the combat medic, Rave leaved back, contemplative. One of the marines spoke up.

"So what you're saying is that long term exposure is bad, but our Ghost friend here will be fine if she remains at the short term exposure mark?" Loading in the last round, the combat medic nods as she spins the cylinder.

"That's right, PFC. So we'll want to move fast. And while I'm thinking about it, there's a chance that some local predators hunt in these storms, looking to catch food that was caught unawares by them, so keep on your toes and your heads on a swivel when we disembark. Make the extraction quick and to the point." Rave grinned beneath his helmet, though his eyes didn't betray it. He liked this medic already.

*+ 4 Hours After Palpatine's Dismissal - Executor Bridge*

"So... what am I here for?" the bounty hunter asks curiously towards the dark lord in front of him.

Vader's helmet turns towards him as he finally faces him. Shortly after the Emperor left, the dark lord decided to contact the infamous bounty hunter named Boba Fett to help him with an errand. Recently, the bounty hunter helped Vader track down the lightsaber-wielding pilot who happened to destroy the Death Star one year back. While he didn't catch the boy, he did provide him with his name... Skywalker. That alone provided more than enough information to confirm his identity, and that boy was none other...

Than his son.

Who would've thought that his own son would be the one that destroyed the all-mighty super weapon? In fact, he shouldn't be alive if Padme died in childbirth. Of course, the Emperor hid this from him, yet he only kept in his place in fear of the Emperor killing him outright. All he could do is not mention it and continue to be loyal to him. Yet he will find his son soon enough, once he has permission to head out into his own galaxy. Until then however, he will remain here and hire a bounty hunter for his duties instead.

"I have called you here for an assignment that will do a great service for the Empire here." the sith lord replies deeply.

"And that is what...?" the bounty hunter questions curiously, "Some sort of scouting mission I bet?"

"Precisely," Vader replies bluntly as he continues on, "You are to scout out the surrounding terrain and be on a lookout for any factions you come across while on patrol. They may be either a potential threat or ally to the Empire. Do NOT engage any potential faction personnel unless it's for defense or otherwise..."

Boba Fett simply chuffed at that order quietly.

"Well, that's a little disappointing... I was hoping to hunt someone or something for a change." he remarks nonchalantly as he lowers his carbine.

There was a thick pause between the two, with only the sound of Vader's breathing echoing throughout the Bridge. He didn't seem to impressed by Fett's attitude at this very moment. The bounty hunter recognizes this and nods while looking back at the dark lord.

"But as you wish," he quickly responds with little care, "What's the price?"

"A substantial reward." was all that the sith lord answers, "Remember to check back with Imperial command immediately after taking note of any potential bases, vehicles, units or anything regarding a faction. Understand?"

"As you wish." Boba replies while nodding slowly.

"Good." Vader replies firmly as he turns back to the bridge, "You are excused... DO not fail me again."

With that, Boba Fett slowly leaves the bridge and heads to his ship as he starts the mission.

---

*+ 1 Hour & 36 Minutes Later*

The Bounty Hunter eventually landed his ship in a small ravine in the outskirts of the mesa biome overlooking the great blazing desert to start his search. He is instantly reminded of the planet of Tatooine, where there's also a great desert along with rocky mountains and hills harboring tribal communities of Tusken Raiders and Jawas. That was also the location where he attempted to catch Luke Skywalker for Vader, though he unfortunately failed. He hopes that this time he can provide substantial info for his employer. Fett immediately began looking in the mesas for any signs of activity and for the past hour and a half he seemed to be turning up with nothing. All he saw were rocks, rocks, and more orange rock. Sure there were signs of primitive animals here and there, from wild dog-monsters to soaring-birds, but no sign of any intelligent life so far. Maybe he landed in the wrong place? Perhaps he should've landed somewhere else?

In fact, only 45 minutes in, a sandstorm seemed to pop out of nowhere as the bounty hunter gets caught with the shifting sands. His armor and visor provided protection against the sands, but regardless it seems as if he needs to be turning back at this point. The armor isn't going to last forever in this weather before getting glitchy and sand-locked. But before Fett has a chance to consider leaving the Mesa, his helmet begins detecting an encrypted transmission being broadcasted at an unknown signal. With a little fine tuning of his helmet, he is finally able to hear and understand the transmission that was being sent around this location:

"This is Lieutenant Rave Mallard of the Spectre Ops with Raynor's Raiders.

If there are any Dominion personnel hearing this, we are in the southern desert on a mountain. In one hour, I will be heading to the northern border where the desert meets with mesas and badlands, waiting six hours for you to arrive. I will be doing this for the next two days, this message looping every hour on the hour for the time I am waiting. Please let me know you hear me on one of these channels.

I repeat, this is Lieutenant Rave Mallard of the Spectre Ops with Raynor's Raiders. It's time to come home."

Aha. There's the first signs of a nearby faction. Apparently this message has been on loop for some time but regardless it's recent. However Boba Fett didn't immediately call the Empire to notify them of this, rather he keeps on going through the storm. Perhaps he can find some stragglers nearby...

And through a small opening within the thick dark sand, he sees a person. The bounty hunter kept his head low as he virtually swam through the thick sand, popping in from rock to rock in an attempt to take a safe look at it. Upon closer inspection, it turns out the human is a female, with blonde hair and wore advanced tech in the form of a grey tight latex suit, along with some cybernetic-esque armor with blue glowing stripes. She appears to be talking into her arm, suggesting she might be answering the looped message or calling out to her boss... if she has one anyways. And after some time of talking, she stops and continues walking. Whatever she is doing here, she too must've been caught by the sudden storm and is seemingly searching for shelter.

Boba Fett continues to be sneaky as he stalks the woman from afar, careful to blend in with the storm as he hunches over in a sneaky fashion. Before long, the woman just suddenly sits down in the sand and does nothing but look around her. She looks rather vulnerable at this stage and Boba couldn't help but just thinking about pulling the trigger as he aims his carbine at her direction. Yet he doesn't do it. He lowers his gun down and gets onto his knee, using his holographic comlink to get in contact with Vader.

"Lord Vader." he speaks while looking into the blue projection of the sith lord, "I'm caught in a sandstorm, but I'm able to faintly see a woman of some kind sitting a good distance away. She's wearing some kind of unknown armor, not one familiar to us."

"Continue to monitor her for awhile." Vader replies bluntly, "Study what she's doing and then head back to base. Did you find anything else?"

"Indeed," Boba continues, "She also appears to have noticed a repeating encrypted transmission that was announced in the area for the past two days at least. I was able to decrypt it... Said something about 'Raynor's Raiders or something... also mentioning someone named Lieutenant Rave Mallard... it's certainly a faction of some kind."

"Interesting" the sith lord replies curiously, "Bring the message to us in order for Imperial Command to commence a full analysis on it. Anything else to report?"

"That's all I have." Boba concludes as he begins transmitting the message, "I'll be heading back to my ship in a few minutes. Fett out."

And with that, the comlink shuts off and the bounty hunter continues to check on the woman... unless she somehow finds out about him first...

Vermillion Empire

The chanting was heard throughout the camp. A fight erupted, with any protest being met with ease. As the moments passed, more desperation grew as the next victim fell. Then the next. Then the next. Then the next. Finally, almost mercifully, The last gasp for air was stolen from the last victim.
Valkorion stood on the altar above the make shift prison city for refugees and laughed. He had just taken the life force of all his victims. "I am stronger. I am mightier than any Sith or any Jedi, and the Array will belong to my glorious Empire!" Valkorion's power was strong in both The Force and in manipulation. He was charismatic, and his presence was strong. The Skytroopers came in to clean the mess of the make shift prison camp, and within a few moments, all corpses were gone.

Visible in the distance from the Kingdom of Ancent's outlying territories, a brilliantly shining four-pointed star flew across the heavens at a significant pace, leaving a lengthy trail of shimmering white light in its wake. The clouds it passed through scattered, and the very light of the sun-band in the sky seemed dim by comparison.

The first few notes of faint, heavenly singing could already by heard by the people on the ground.

The Angels have arrived.

---

As it approached the ground, the comet of divine light seamlessly disintegrates and takes on its true appearance, a tight formation of hundreds of shining, angelic figures. The Angels descend, like galaxy brought to earth and led by a star that shone brighter than the whole of the host combined. A joyful hymn fills the air in all directions, words of life-bringing and heavenly, maternal love striking the hearts of all who listened.

Even across the great distance that remained, the firm voice of the leading star could be heard clearly. "Banners, raise!"

By now, the shapes of the individual Angels were clearly visible. Those in the front ranks directly preceding the head Angel each carries a great banner, showing Ilias's divine image in excruciating detail. When the banners are lifted, the vast majority of the procession stops with only those Angels closest to the ground approaching the crowd that had inevitably gathered below.

They form ranks behind Eden, who stops ten feet above the ground, one hand firmly on her spear and the other seemingly resting on an the same imaginary surface she seemed to be "sitting" on. She addresses the mortals below, not with her usual tone, but one that seemed to carry with it the very image of the true, and benevolent Goddess that she served.

"Oh, great Human Kingdom. Our Divine Mother Ilias has sent us out in search of true, righteous folk, so that we might unite under one banner and stand as one against the Darkness. Do not be alarmed by our weapons and numbers, this is a delegation of peace. We come in our Goddess's name, in hopes that you might answer her call and accept her Light into your hearts."

She stood as a dauntless figure at the head of an army of Angel warriors, but the look on her face was one of kindness. The musical tones coming from the Angelic choir above had subdued while she spoke, but even now they were still audible all across the surrounding region, despite the distance. The final formation that the Angels settled was one of many interlacing halos, those furthest up gently circling, while those closer to the ground stood motionless, ready to respond in an instant to Eden's commands.

Of those visible, the Angels immediately behind Eden were the most ornately dressed. They wore pure white garments of flowing fabric, accented with gold in places that matched perfectly with the golden locks of hair on their heads. Each held with one arm a great banner, while the other was placed gently at the sheathe for a blade at their side. Further back, formations of green-haired women in similar white dresses stood stilly and in perfect formation, twenty in front with swords at their hips, and twenty in the back with quivers of arrows and bows in hand.

In the sky, where the Angels circled and sang, many different looking Angels could be spotted. Some were lithe, like girlish statues in Ilias's image and carrying a wide variety of weapons. Others were more voluptuous, regarding the people below with unusual interest. In their hands, they held whips, and nets, and chains. Tools for subduing, not for killing.

Most of the Host, it seemed, consisted of the green-haired style of Angel, who seemed most serious out of the rest of their sisters. Notably, while all of them were winged none of them seemed to actually need to flap their wings to fly, instead simply floating as they willed through the sky. They did not falter from wind, and their presence seemed to push away clouds, leaving the area clear, and sunlit.

Finally, at the very greatest heights of the Angel's formation, the warriors did not stand as still as those below. Their eyes were not on the ground, but rather, in each direction, carefully scanning the horizon and the sprawling plains below in search of threats. The eyes of Heaven must be ever-vigilant against the Darkness. If peace was to be forged here, they would have to be careful, every step of the way.

As for threats from the Humans... the Angels in the lower circles would handle that. That was their job, after all.

---

"Report! Sonia the Alchemist and Anastasia the Adventurer had returned!"

"Good. Let them in."

"And they seem to bring an unfamiliar group of people with them."

"Hmm, an unfamiliar group of people, you say? What do you mean? Well, no matter, I am sure they would explain everything. Come on now, bring them in."

"Yes, my liege!"

The guard quickly retreated after giving another bow, his armor clanging as he half-ran towards the big door on the other side of the room. He then told the other two guards standing there to open it, allowing Sonia and Anastasia to enter. It seemed the two had been waiting on the other side of the door.

As usual, the two didn't bow or kneel in front of the king, a privilege reserved to only the most important and distinguished persons of the country.

"We're back!" Sonia announced cheerfully.

"And we brought you some souvenirs!" Anastasia chimed in with a grin.

"Souvenirs? You mean..."

"Yes, the people we just rescued," Anastasia replied.

The two then explained everything that had transpired, how they came from another world and how they were stranded in the middle of a monster-infested land with no chance of escape. And now, they seek asylum and protection in the kingdom, a place where they could live safely.

"Hmm, I'm fine with letting them stay, but..."

"But what Your Majesty?" Sonia interrupted. "If it's food, I am confident that we have more than enough to feed them," she said with a determined look.

"Are you sure they're... oh, nevermind. We'll deal with it when it happens. Very well. I approve of them staying in our kingdom. For now, they would work on the outlying farms as manual labor. They would share houses with the locals until we finished constructing makeshift houses for them. Of course, they are free to choose a different occupation if they so desire."

And with that, the meeting was adjourned. Anastasia split up from Sonia as she was going to spread the order of the king around. Sonia would be the one handling the refugees for now.

Their plan was immediately foiled however when unexpected guests came out of nowhere, bringing an army with them uninvited and unannounced right into the kingdom's territory.

The refugees would have to wait for now. This was far more important.

---

When they arrived, the angelic army had already arrived right in front of the gates. Citizens of the kingdom were either hiding or fleeing, with some brave, curious, or just plain foolish souls gathering to see what was going on. The refugees were also there to witness the event.

"Oh, great Human Kingdom. Our Divine Mother Ilias has sent us out in search of true, righteous folk, so that we might unite under one banner and stand as one against the Darkness. Do not be alarmed by our weapons and numbers, this is a delegation of peace. We come in our Goddess's name, in hopes that you might answer her call and accept her Light into your hearts," the one who seemed to be their leader announced in a booming voice.

Joining them was the leader of the Ancent Knights, Boris. He stood there stoically, looking at the angel horde, his stance ready to draw his sword and leap in combat in a single move.

And then, he spoke.

"What business do you have with our kingdom?" he shouted back. His voice couldn't rival that of the angel's voice, but it could still be heard just fine with the people present. "If you wish to propose an alliance, then you speak with our king, and by sending a messenger, not an army like this." His voice was stern, with a hint of anger in it. Clearly, he didn't trust them at all.

Anastasia had the same idea. She already began calculating which angels she had to take care first if a fight broke out. With that many of them, she wouldn't hold back. She would use the bullet Sonia gave her the other day.

Sonia herself on the other hand, thought the other direction. If a fight broke out, she had to evacuate the civilians and the refugees as quickly as possible. At least she had to buy time until the rest of the kingdom's forces came. She still had a couple of elixirs with her but wasting them all would be foolhardy.

Hmm, angels. They were all winged people flying on the sky. They looked really majestic and divine for sure but they still shared a common weakness that most winged creatures shared.

She would use that against them.

@Black Alice

With extraction now inbound, Nova could settle down for the moment until the evac aircraft got close. Well, comparatively speaking - in the middle of this sand storm, however, she had to keep herself alert for trouble. Picking up her rife once again, she got up into a crouch and began to wait out the storm, trying to ignore the sand that was being driven against her face and cheekbones.

She couldn't tell how long she had been there, but as she cast her psionic senses wide to try and supplement her reduced visibility, she thought she detected a pinprick of a presence in the back of her mind. Where, though, she was not certain. Calming herself, she tightened her grip on her rifle, carefully listening to this unknown's surface thoughts as she waited.

You've got me dead to rights, she thought to herself as her finger hovered above her C-20A's trigger guard. And yet you're not firing at me. Why?

One wrong move on either of their parts and this tense situation would diverge into a firefight that Nova was neither keen on getting into, or would not want to fight in the middle of this storm ...

---

Battlestar 'Lysander'
In geo-synchronous orbit of the Array
31 days since 'arrival' from Scorpio

Ship's Time - 1037hrs

On the far orbit of the Array, a ship - far more clunkier in appearance compared to the dagger-like form of the Empire's Star Destroyers - hovered above the eastern orbit of the Array. Here and there, once can make out the blue-white sparks of arc welders as crewmen in EVA suits continued to make repairs to clearly-damaged sections of the ship, while arrow-like fighters buzzed around the ship on their assigned C.A.P.s.



Onboard and in the comparatively crammed bulkheads that made up Captain Stephanie Cunningham's office, she was in the middle of a meeting with her XO (MAJ Silas Paulson). The latter - a wiry man within his 40s - was rattling off a list from a clipboard containing more and more bad news for the morning.

"We've hove to for damage inspection for Decks 6, 18 and 19 ..." he droned. "But we estimate that complete repairs to external armour would not be ready for another three days. We're also in the middle of scrubbing our systems for any signs of a possible Cylon virus-"

"Just-" Cunningham held up a hand to stop Paulson. "Just leave the information on my desk, Major. I'll go over it myself. What's the status of Base Alpha?"

Paulson placed the clipboard onto his CO's desk. "The one in the rainforest? Well, we've established communications from groundside and Colonel Verran assure me his men have established a safe perimeter around the structure we had recon'd earlier. However, beyond that, exploration of the surrounding area is slow; vegetation is thick in some areas to the point where ground and aerial recon is nearly impossible. Verran is requesting reinforcements to bolster security in the area, but with our limited Marine compliment on-board, I just don't see how he's going to be able to get what he needs."

Cunningham nodded, glancing down as she began to flick through her XO's report. "And our fighters?"

"Red and Green Squadrons are on CAP rotation as we speak. LT Grant and his boys and girls are on station until 1200 hrs. LT Ash and her squadron are on Alert 4 standby status in case 'Lysander' gets jumped."

Stephanie looked up at Paulson, a slight smile on her face, as she nodded to the Major. "Thank you, Major. That'll be all for now."

Paulson nodded to Cunningham and, with a brisk "Ma'am." about-turned and exited Cunningham's office. The captain waited until he was outside and the vault-like door clanged shut, before she dropped her demeanor and put her forehead into a hand.

"What a frakking mess." she muttered, returning her attention to the report.

The Dummy craft hurtled across the sands of the southern desert on their scouting mission. For the first hour the desert had revealed nothing but sand, however the group was rapidly approaching a small speck of mountains that rose out of the featureless desert. For about an hour the CPU thought it might be a volcano as a result of it’s loneliness but eventually dismissed this assumption when it once again remembered it was not actually on a planet and therefore its rudimentary knowledge of Geology and plate tectonics did not apply.

The CPU vaguely remembered one that it may have noticed something like a node on this particular mountain during the first few chaotic days of fighting it had experienced before it had fled below ground, which was the reason why its first scouting group was heading straight for it. If there were others like itself they would have undoubtedly have occupied such a node. If there were not then all the better, as it would be able to claim the node for itself.

Shure enough, as it’s ships got closer and the mountains became clearer, the vast, tree like megastructure became obvious to the sensors on it’s leading fighter craft. The Node appeared to be located in some kind of canyon or low peak as only the upper half poked up into the sky, the base hidden by the surrounding stone. There did not appear to be anything built nearby, nor any aerial activity, but perhaps a faction living there were hidden like the base of the Node was. It was certainly a well defensible location, likely featuring plenty of surface caves to use as hidden bunker entrances and the ridges would be excellent hiding places for AA installations, so the CPU did not count the lack of visible activity as evidence that there was no one there.

With that in mind the CPU decided to land a little way off from the node, ordering it’s craft to decelerate and come to a hover above the slopes of the mountain. It took about 10 minutes to make the ground land-able, one of the rocklets opening up and letting it’s 4 dummies to jetpack the last 20 M to the ground, where they used diggers and sprayers to make a level platform upon which the 8 pods and 2 falcons subsequently landed. The CPU took a few more minutes to properly reinforce the position with simple rampart and to position the landing zone’s brain unit in a covered location next to an escape rocklet.

Leaving the dreadnaught, 6 dummies and the two falcons to protect the landing zone the CPU started to march the remaining 20 dummies and the second brain unit up the side of the mountain. The ascend was rocky and steep, but with a combination of the Dummies’ tireless marching and the occasional jetpack boost meant the squad took about 10 minutes to reach the ridge that was hiding the base of the Node. It turned out that it’s earlier baseless assumption was true, as the vast metal tree sat in the center of an (hopefully)extinct Caldera volcano, which meant that the Node was in the middle of a flat basin surrounded on all side by a ridge, though there did appear to be a place where the wall had collapsed, forming a less steep entrance. Thanks to the parched environment of the surrounding desert, what might normally have been a small lake was instead a flat surface of sunbaked rock.

The lead dummy also Spotted some distinctly human figures down in the basin who appeared to be a kind of survey group. Most of them where bulky humanoid figures wearing heavy armor with domed visors and large shields on their off hand, who were carrying boxy firearms(marines). Accompanying them where an equal number of slightly larger and much fatter black clad units that seemed to have weapon gauntlets (marauders) and a small number of similarly sized hunched back machines featuring wheels on illogical places on their frames and a turret mounted atop them that featured what might have been a pilot light(Hellbats).

Hopefully they were friendly, but just in case the CPU positioned most of the Dummies to stay back just behind the ridge, it’s Brain unit as far down the mountain face as possible while still in command range and it also warmed up the engines of it’s craft for either an emergency evac or to provide reinforcements. With that all set up it sent it’s communication Dummy over the edge and down into the basin, accompanied by 6 blaser armed dummies that trailed slowly after it, their weapons in hand but lowered and pointed away from the soldiers below. The communication Dummy did it’s best to wave at those below in a friendly and enthusiastic manner while the CPU made it shout.

"Friendly: Greetings fellow sentient being. I wish to talk business"

The voice coming out of the robot’s head mounted speaker system sounded exactly like microsoft Sam, as CPU had spared every expense when making its diplomacy bot.

As the masked bounty hunter continues to monitor on Terra's location, he suddenly begins seeing sudden signs of movement coming from her. The way she turns, the rapid head movement, even how she grips her weapon, Boba can tell that she's on the old "I got a bad feeling about this" alert. Somehow, she senses the bounty hunter nearby. Was it because of her tech? Because she couldn't simply figure that he's just literally hiding somewhere around the corner, especially within a blinding sandstorm with wild winds howling in the air. That shouldn't be possible... yet now it seems like the most logical assumption.

The bounty hunter grips his carbine, his trigger finger ready to pull as he debates on whether to shoot the lone woman, who just so happens to be dead in his sights, or to continue hiding for some time before moving on. It was a tough decision. After all, he is already itching for a fight and he might just be able to overtake her. She doesn't seem that tough. Yet then again, her armor, tech, and weaponry are unlike anything Fett has ever encountered over his 20+ year career. Plus she might be extremely skilled in her craft as well. He points his carbine slightly upwards, seemingly ready to do battle with the woman. Truly the call has to start on his behalf and either he's going to start this or call it off...

He chose the latter.

Looking slightly over the barrier and then back at his weapon, Fett lowers his weapon and relaxes his tensed fingers. He isn't going to risk fighting an unknown opponent in such open land. In fact, the woman may have reinforcements on the way and if that's the case it's better to try and get information rather than risking his life. He's positive that even if he looses he'll have the best chances at escaping, and that the chances of dying are slim, but with this unknown opponent he doesn't want to risk it. If she's calling for help, he'll just wait it out and see what happens next...

---

Quickly approaching the looming volcano in the distance, two scout troopers traverse the harsh terrain on their nimble 74-Z speeder bikes. Falon was once again tasked to scout out the terrain beyond the riverlands alongside another fellow trooper, TB-124 or "Hunter". This time their commanding officer gave them both specific directions to scout out a dormant volcano located by a major river on their side to the southeast. Scans have indicated that there's an unoccupied node located near the basin of the mountain and that if they are quick enough they may be able to take it and make a new base within it. The officer also gave them both a special type of armor, or "Magma Armor", to help them blend in and withstand the heat of the volcano, if there's the chance that if any lava still slowly boils from the sides.

Now after at least an hour of traveling through the long grasses of the neighboring savannah biome, the two have finally reached the base of the volcano. The two stop as they look up at the huge mountain in front of them along with a glimpse of the node by the summit. There seems to be no signs of volcanic activity or any left over lava spilling from the sides. In fact, it looks like there hasn't been an eruption for years. Hunter takes a deep breath as he looks at Falon.

"Looks like this volcano is dormant." he claims to his partner before looking back up at it.

Falon nods in agreement.

"Yup." he replies bluntly, "Maybe even extinct. The foliage around it seems to be rather lush, like the trees have barely any sign of burned off branches. Like there's a stump there... there... there and there... but otherwise I don't see anything that can hint of a recent eruption."

"Tch, and he said we needed this 'special magma armor'," Hunter responds mockingly towards their officer, "We ain't on Mustafar or... I don't know, Sullust or some other lava planet."

"It's standard protocol Hunter," retorts Falon slightly, "Better to have it on during the event that something happens instead of finding ourselves without it. It's lava-resistant, remember?"

Hunter simply shrugs at this.

"Ehh, that's kinda true." he answers in agreement.

With that, the two begin riding up the rocky volcano. Along the way up they encountered some rough segments and locations where the risk of falling was extremely high, but they still persevered and were carefully minding their step and direction. After all, these bikes can go up to a top speed of 500 kilometers and hour, or roughly 140 miles. If they managed to not see a cliff or dip in the terrain, they could loose control and fall right off the edge towards a grim demise. They especially had to be careful when turning against sharp steep turns as well, not wanting to fall off them either. At least the bikes didn't have wheels that risked breaking off such loose chunks of rock...

After a half-hour ascent up the mountain, they finally reach the summit. They park their bikes off a slight slope that leads into the crater and peaked over the ridge leading to the Node. However, as they peered over, they can see several figures in the distance, around 20 in total. Hunter was once again the first to ask about the matter.

"Uhh, are those our guys?" he asks unsurely to his partner.

Falon then takes out his macrobinoculars and begins taking a closer look at the group. Upon closer inspection, they appear to look robotic in nature, with no face, tan-skin, black and grey connecting parts, and a strange circular symbol on the sides of their heads. He continues to monitor them as he responds to his partner's question.

"I dunno..." he replies unsurely, "They look like some kind of droid... not familiar with the design though."

Just then, they hear a loud robotic voice stating that they were 'friendly' and 'wished to talk business' coming from the group. They appeared to be announcing it toward the otherwise of the caldera as if they were hailing other nearby factions to them. Was it a trap? It seems hard to say. Both troopers were unsure of what to do in this situation.

"I... guess we should say hi?" Hunter asks unsurely as he looks at Falon.

There was a short pause followed by a sigh before he had his answer...

"Just be on guard for anything unpredictable." he replies as he gets up while holding a blaster pistol in one hand and descends into the crater.

Hunter hesitated for a second before going along with it, following Falon down to meet these new "droids". Before long, they were several long meters away from these new droids, their pistols still gripped firmly in their hand. Falon notices one of the closer droids and begins to hail him. But before he had a chance to speak, Hunter steps in and speaks instead.

"Uh... hey, hello, greetings, uh... fellow droids?" the scout trooper stammers as he tries to find the right words, "Who might you guys be... to like land inside a volcano?"

After a full day of marching, a night of rest, and another half-day of marching, Vay Hek and his little scouting party had found the source of the fires. It appeared to be an entire group of people. They appeared to be primitive at best, but Vay Hek was taking 0 chances. He and his men had set up a small camp nearby, and were now employing a few Blunts as defensive fortifications. Vay Hek had radioed back to the Grineer Fortress, and recieved the orders to observe. After all, there was no way of knowing whether or not the beings were violent or not. Vay Hek had gained a healthy measure of caution after years of dealing with the Tenno. While they appeared harmless, they were from from it. So, the Grineer party had asked for reinforcements (to arrive within a day or two). Until then, they had withdrawn several hundred yards and set up camp.

"Councilor, the Blunts have been deployed." one of the Scorpions had approached him. Hek gave her a sign that she'd been heard, before having her order the Shield Lancers to patrol. The Scorpion saluted, then walked away. Vay Hek knew that it rankled some of the female soldiers to have to listen to himself or Sargas Ruk. It was a well-known fact in the Origin System that the Grineer were largely a matriarchal society. However, that did not mean that males couldn't rise to power. He was a prime example of this.

The mechanized man halted his thoughts, and observed the people from a distance. They appeared primitive, and Vay Hek was sure that they would be crushed under the Grineer army if it came to it. However, the councilor hadn't gotten to his position by being an idiot. No, caution was best here, and it seemed the Queens agreed if they'd ordered him to wait and observe. Perhaps they would encounter another group out here, another scouting party. War was not something the Grineer needed right now.

---

While Vay Hek was sweating bullets about what to do, Sargas Ruk had no such qualms. One of his patrolling parties had radioed him earlier in the morning with interesting news. They'd found a group of people in a cave nearby. The people were largely civilians, and the still-mutated appearance of the Grineer frightened them. The men had guarded the cave from some of the more violent wildlife whle Sargas Ruk himself arrived. He was escorted by two Hyekka Masters, two Drahk Masters, and a couple of Bombards and Bailiffs. Soon after his arrival, Sargas Ruk approached the man who had been chosen as the representative of these refugees.

"My good sir, I'm glad your people have found us. We've been lost here for a month, with little food and water to survive. We would appreciate any help you could give.". Sargas Ruk stopped to think. He'd discussed this issue with the Queens, who had given him permission to make whatever decision he saw fit.

"Hmm... well, we might have a place for you all in our lovely Empire. Our Queens were most generous in giving me the power to make the decision regarding your fates. So long as you agree to our conditions, we won't kill you on the spot." Ruk replied. The man seemed to begin sweating bullets, but nodded. "Essentially, you'll be heavy labor for us. If we find you have the suitable requirements, then we could find other uses for you." Sargas Ruk finally decided. The man started to protest, until he saw that one of the Grineer Bombards was handling his Ogris in an aggressive manner. After conferring with the rest of the refugees, they reluctantly agreed. Ruk quickly callled for more reinforcements, and the refugees were lead away to their new, hard life.

Collab with @Frater Jeremiah

---

The ride back on the APCs were slower than flying, that's for sure.

Reisen's rear was already feeling sore from all the jostling and bumping, but at least she won't be punished when she gets home. It wasn't long before they left the icy terrain and found themselves unable to pass through the dangerously high cliffs and narrow passage through the mountains. Signalling for them to stop, Reisen exited the vehicle, catching sight of a rabbit staring down upon them, before jolting away.

Shrugging, she turned to the others. "From here, we would have to proceed on foot. These uh... vehicles, will not be able to fit in these small passages. We can't fly around here either, to stop anyone from spotting us and therefore our base's location."

Grant nodded and followed her out of the vehicle, motioning for his riflemen to follow. They piled out in a quick and orderly fashion, while Captain Reed's Zone Troopers lumbered out of their larger personnel carrier. The captain himself was adorned in a suit of powered armor, face hidden behind the large hatch that topped the suit's torso. The right hand of the suit was missing, instead brandishing a small ion cannon. Within a minute or so they had all disembarked, quietly following the small rabbit through the rocky terrain.

"Keep a cool head gentlemen, I don't want any incidents, and you don't want to be stuck out in the snow in your skivies for a week." Grant barked at his men, the sergeant's tone harsh but lacking in malice. He and his men shouldered their weapons as they continued through the cliffs, making progress much quicker than Reed's heaviliy armored retinue.

The APCs would remain, drivers and gunners left to defend the vehicles with their lives if needed. Though, Reed doubted there was anything nearby that could pose a threat to the carriers, let alone stand up to a pair of heavy machine guns.

"So, how've you and yours adjusted to life out here, Miss Inaba? Can't imagine it's been an easy transition." Grant asked, doing his best to keep the mood light as the party continued to hike through the mountains.

"It was uh..."

Reisen thought back of their first week here. Earth rabbits lounging around, earth rabbits singing, earth rabbits dancing around. Really, the only thing that changed was the outside of Eientei itself, which she herself had to go out and monitor, in case those conflicts came too close. No one had even come close to entering the grove, save for a few bewildered animals of course. At least they didn't spend their time moping around once they knew they weren't in Gensokyo anymore.

"...H-hard, I guess? The earth rabbits weren't too concerned as long as they weren't starving or being attacked."

As they walked through the narrow passage, she noticed more and more rabbits were popping up to stare at them. At first there were no more than two or three, now there are whole groups pushing each other on top of small perches. It wasn't long before one of them, now in humanoid form, came wobbling over to Reisen, looking as if she might cry.

"R-reisen, did you get captured?"

"Ah no, these are.." Reisen started before the rabbit started wailing again.

"Are you being forced to _______ their ______, or _______ then _______!?"

"No! Who told you that!?" Placating the distressed rabbit, she finally corrected the misunderstanding, before sending them off again, looking slightly better. She had this bad feeling this wouldn't be the end of it.

The difficult passage through the mountain eventually widened, opening up to bamboo grove. An extremely large one, with seemingly no end in sight. There were more earth rabbits here, both in humanoid form, and rabbit form. By now, if they haven't figured it out by that first encounter, it would be obvious Reisen wasn't one of them. The earth rabbits were smaller and shorter, looking like human children, as well as having soft droopy ears, while Reisen herself stood taller than any of them, bearing herself differently, with longer more rigid and upright ears.

A few soldiers laughed at the exchange, others waved and said hello to the small rabbit-folk, while most simply remained quiet or whispered among themselves. Grant stayed a few steps from Reisen as they moved, doing his best to keep the mood light. All the while, Reed and his Zone Troopers brought up the rear, the joints of their armor whirring softly with each and every motion they took.

"Must say Miss Inaba, this is like something out of a fairytale. Little spirits, or animal folk, or whatever y'all might be, hidden and tucked away from sight in the deep wood. Drawing in a hero or soldiers or nights, just hope it doesn't end up like something out of the Brothers Grimm." The sergeant chuckled to himself as he made small talk.

He and his men had shouldered their weapons, doing there best to convey a sense of calm around the figity little rabbits. Reed and his men however were not able to do so, their massive weapons being lugged in the hands of their power armor. So, they kept to themselves, forming a single file line through the rocky terrain, finally spreading out around their captain as they entered the bamboo grove.

"Ahaha... I have no idea who that is, but they're generally harmless." At least, when they're not overly curious about things. Already some of them were skipping along them, eying the large machines trudging along.

It wasn't long before they were back to their usual self, once the word spread around of their arrival. Some bounded playfully around the mechanized units, flying around them curiously, with some of the more daring ones sitting on their large shoulders.

"We're called youkais, these children here are specifically Earth Rabbits. They're generally rabbits that had a long life and gathered enough power to gain humanoid forms, though they can still use their normal form."

Waving to a bunch of rabbits dancing about, she finally brought them to a large Japanese styled mansion, taking off her shoes as she got inside.

"I'm back!"

With a glance back, she motioned for them to follow her inside the house.

The Zone Troopers did their best to ignore the little ones as they danced, ran, and flew about. They let them hang about them and rest on the shoulders of their armor, but not without great warning to the small rabbits. Reed in particular was forced to chastise one of them for touching the ion cannon attached to his right arm.

"Well, that's a relief, a lot of the times fey and spirits and haunts are just out to get you." The sergeant sounded rather relieved, patting one of the children's heads as they passed.

"the Brothers Grimm were a couple of historians and writers who went around Europe, collecting all the folklore and fairy tales, translating them, and publishing them into a volume. They were German, and a lot of German fairytales are rather grim. Lots of murder, maulings, and monsters. But it was all to teach children lessons. Not to be too trusting, not to be stingy, to be brave, those sorts of things. My favorite was about a man who had to steal the Devil's golden chest hairs."

Grant went on for a few minutes about the story, and others head read as a child, as he and the rest of the soldiers made their way into the large mansion.

Eyes twitching as she watched those soldiers crowd into with their dirty shoes, Reisen nevertheless kept quiet, mentally making a note to have someone clean those trails later. Even worse was the zone troopers squeezing in through the doors. Perhaps she should have said something? But it was too late now, and it would certainly seem rude to them if she was to tell them now.

But, instead of a cramped house interior, the hallways seemed large and infinite, spanning wide distances with doors and more hallways leading elsewhere. Just as well considering she didn't want to be in a tight space with these mechs around. Her feet left the ground as she started floating, leading them confidently down halls and sliding paper doors that seemed to stretch out to infinity.

Finally, she opened a door to a large luxurious looking tatami room, revealing a woman with long braided silver hair, tied up nicely at the end with a ribbon. Her clothes had an odd asymetrical blue and red pattern on it, with constellations seemingly sewed onto it. If there was any indication that she took offense to the soldiers tracking dirt all over the floor, her face betrayed none of it.

"Master," Reisen started, sitting outside the door. "These are representatives from uh..."

She looked towards them, realizing she did not get their organization's name, having forgotten to ask about it in her elation.

Reed stepped forward, his armor lumbering past the small rabbit. "I am Captain Reed of the Global Defense Initiative. My commanding officer, General Cunningham, sends his regards and has sent me to negotiate terms of trade with you and your people."

The other soldiers stood silently and at attention as the captain spoke, Grant included.

"We are willing to offer you and your people protection and information, in exchange for medicine, and the establishment of a GDI base in this area."

A rabbit came in through a small side door, placing down a pot of tea and two clay cups. Eirin did not answer him immediately, but took her time to pour out a measured amount of tea in both cups, and placed one at the other end of the table, obviously meant for him. Another rabbit discreetly entered and placed a cushion at the low table.

"Will you not leave your suit and sit down to speak to me?" She took up her cup, enjoying the smell of the tea for a moment before taking a sip. "Or perhaps you feel threathened in our humble abode?"

The canopy to the large suit hissed as it rose, with Reed climbing out shortly after. The captain was dressed in simple blue coveralls, his name and rank stitched into the fabric. He took his seat across from the woman, and sipped the tea slowly before speaking.

"Do forgive me, at times it becomes like a second skin. What's more something like that becomes a symbol, wearing it makes things easier with diplomats, bean counters, and desk jockeys who think they have a say in how we operate." The captain smiled at the woman, before sipping his tea again.

"May I ask your name, Ma'am?"

She gave a small approving look as he exited the suit.

"My name is Eirin Yagokoro, acting leader of Eientei." She paused for a moment, looking over the soldiers peering in from the door and the one sitting in front of her. "That means House of Eternity, which I'm sure you know the name's origin. Princess Kaguya is our actual leader, but I handle mostly everything in her stead. Tell me, Captain Reed, what have you seen of the rabbits outside? What do you think of them?"

The captain merely shrugged at the question. "I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with Asian culture and myth, never spent time in Japan. Though they're lucky that they live on such a barren tock, Tiberium wouldn't touch the place. China wasn't so lucky."

He took another drink of tea, sighing contentedly before continuing. "As for the rabbits, they seem friendly enough. Seem like children almost, curious, playful, and rather imaginative given one of their outbursts. This place reminds me of the future from that old book, with the time machine. All the people above ground living simply and happily, but they're all like children, can't do much of anything for themselves. So theyre preyed upon by others below, ones who knew how to build, how to work the land."

Eirin picked up the teapot and refilled the captain's cup and her own. "That is accurate in some ways. We are not a group of hardened warriors. The only one who can really fight is Reisen alone." She gestured towards the rabbit still sitting outside patiently with the rest of the soldiers.

"Our main source of protection is how hidden we are inside this bamboo grove, and should you build bases here, it would allow us to be discovered easily. With only Reisen to protect us... " She let those words hang in the air as she sipped at her tea. "Protection and information for our medicine is certainly worthwhile, but not if you should strip us of our grove and our only line of defense."

"Perhaps smaller outposts scattered around this area?"

"That would be agreeable, though I must ask, do you and your people have access to... well we call them Nodes, large megastructures capable of great energy and production output. If so, we would like to study it." He gladly accepted the tea, sipping before continuing.

"As for the outposts, I'm sure we can find suitable locations out among the mountains, another line of defense for you and your people. Given that secrecy is important to you, I doubt air-lifting supplies will be viable, we'll most likely need to establish proper trade routes to transport medicine and equipment. How does this all sound to you, acceptable?"

She paused for a moment once he mentioned the Nodes. They called the large hollow tree something else, but that should be this Node the captain was speaking of.

"Ah, as for that, I'm afraid I would have to refuse you. The Princess made it very clear no one that aren't assigned to tend it should get close to it. I'm quite sure that you would know what it is capable of, and our reasons for keeping it guarded. Please understand that I cannot go against the Princess, and that she is unlikely to trust anyone outside our group easily."

Placing her empty cup on the table, Eirin gave a thoughtful look at the suggestion. "That would be acceptable, with the addendum that I be sent some of your equipments. At the very least, we can defend ourself against any dangerous animals with those. I will send out some of our scouts to help you find a suitable route through the mountains, as well as guide you around the area."

"Now, if that arrangement is acceptable," she continued, as a rabbit entered through the side door, placing down a piece of paper as well as a quill and an inkwell. "Shall we discuss the finer points of our agreement?"

The captain nodded, quickly finishing the last of his tea as the rabbit brought in the paper and ink. "I suppose that's fair, we'll leave the Node in your hands, and we will supply your people with some simple armaments to defend themselves, and the training to use them properly of course. We don't want anyone hurting themselves. Your scouts, your people, and your home are in good hands, Ma'am. The general is a hard old dog, but a tough one, need to be to live through Tib Wars II, III, and IV."

Reed picked up the paper, and dipped the quill into the inkwell, a soft smile on his face. "Lets hope we can work this out to be in both of our best interests."

Harold sighed as he walked his rounds around the perimeter of the small research station for the thousandth, with Hank, another marine, and Jim, a marauder, making the rounds with him. Command still hadn't sent over the materials and units to build a proper outpost, partly because they'd just started constructing a Gorgon-Class battlecruiser, but mainly because they couldn't currently spare the man power until the new round of SCVs was built and their pilots ready to man 'em. Guards weren't an issue, since the Hyperion and it's escort had been carrying a several full battalions of troops in case of ground operations before whatever weird event had dropped them here.

And after a week of fighting, then subsequent falling back and finding the node after scrambling for their desert perch, he had landed what was likely the most boring job they could give right now. "Guarding a bloody research outpost in the middle of a dead volcano. Totally the excitement I'd signed up for when I joined the Dominion military." His partners both groaned at his bit of external internal monologue and Hank put a hand on Harold's shoulder, pulling him to a stop so that they could talk face to face.

"For Christ's sake man, give it a rest. None of us expected to end up on this weird ass place and none of us really want to be guarding eggheads while they run scans and seismic tests on another Node to see if it can do what the other one can. But someone's gotta do it and we're safer here than back at the base where someone's gonna eventually notice our battlecruisers and drop a nuke on our heads." Harold opened his mouth to respond, but didn't get a chance as he spotted the approach of humanoid figures.

He immediately falls into protocol. "Heads up, unknowns incoming!" The entirety of the escort detail, containing around a dozen marines and marauders each, along with a Ghost for long range rifle support and a half dozen Hellbats for close combat support, moved to the admittedly poor defensive positions they'd set up, consisting of sandbags at various points around the lab equipment. Nobody moved while they waited for word from the Ghost, who'd see them much clearer than the rest. After a couple of tense minutes, his voice crackles to life on the coms.

"Look like some kind of combat robot, but they're definitely approaching in the least threatening way possible. Don't open fire until we're certain they're an enemy." After several more meters, one of the bots, who'd started to become more than vague shapes for the marines and marauders, waves and calls out in a cheerful, albeit robotic, voice.

"Friendly: Greetings fellow sentient being. I wish to talk business" Harold was tasked with a response over his loud speakers.

"You are entering an operation zone of the Terran Dominion, under the watchful eye of Raynor's Raiders combat division. Halt where you are and identify yourselves or we will open fire." As the group awaited a response from the approaching bots, who would hopefully stop where they were, the Ghost's voice crackles in again.

"Got two more coming down the far side, these ones are definitely armored humans, though I've never seen the armor before. Wait until they're...christ, they're armed as well. Looks like they're more cautious about things, and definitely not with the group that just hailed us. Repeat the message when they're close enough, Sergeant Harold." The marine grumbled quietly about being the outpost's spokesperson, but didn't argue.

As soon as the two men were within range, about another five minute wait, he repeated his message. "You are entering an operation zone of the Terran Dominion, under the watchful eye of Raynor's Raiders combat division. Halt where you are and identify yourselves or we will open fire." And now all they could do was wait as the two groups of other factions approached.

To anyone who might be out there, for the love of whatever god is listening I hope you get this and get it fast! We've been on the run this past month or so, fuck knows I didn't keep track. Soldiers, monsters, hell god-fucking-damned sorcerers showed up in the mix! It's been a shitshow from the start and we were caught with our pants down. Despite it all we managed to make our way south, us and some other folk we found along the way. Then met up with some... well tribals I'd guess you'd call them, said they were gods or some such bullshit. They were camped around some huge generator or something, I don't fucking know. Anyways, for a while it seemed like a safe place, they were strong, stronger than any of us that's for sure. But out of the blue a bunch of Road-Warrior rejects showed up and set the place ablaze. Some of us fought, most of us hid while the tribe went to meet them in force. It didn't take long for the bunch of savages to get ripped apart by the bastards.

We ran as quick as we could when the chief's head was cleaved off his shoulders and dashed on the rocks. I ain't fucking around man, these psychos got all sorts of weird grimy-lookin' tech on 'em. Big guns, mechanical arms, blades and spikes all over 'em. Hooping and hollerin' like a bunch of dumb animals as they wen't round rippin' out innards and quartering bodies. It was about a a day and two nights before they were done, and we heard their buggies and trucks roaring behind us. We scattered, different folks from different groups spreading out so some of us could try and make it out. Not many of us made it this far, found some big ass fort and locked it up tighter than a virgin in Gomorrah. Wasn't long before they found the place and now they're beating down all the fucking walls around us. Don't know who's out there, if anyone is, but help us out and we'll owe you, big. Sending coordinates out, and just gonna hope something worse than those bastards doesn't come a knockin'. Fuck it.